Gardners Art through the Ages A Global History

the folly of pleasure and the inevitability of death. On the far right (FIG.

19-20,right), ladies and gentlemen ignore dreadful realities, occupying

themselves in an orange grove with music and amusements while all

around them angels and demons struggle for the souls of the corpses

heaped in the foreground.

In addition to these direct and straightforward scenes, the mural

contains details that convey more subtle messages. For example, the

painter depicted those who appear unprepared for death—and thus

unlikely to achieve salvation—as wealthy and reveling in luxury. Given

that the Dominicans—an order committed to a life of poverty—par-

ticipated in the design for this fresco program, the imagery surely was a

warning against greed and lust. Although Triumph of Death is a compi-

lation of disparate scenes, the artist rendered each scene with natural-

ism and emotive power. It is an irony of history that as Western hu-

manity drew both itself and the world into ever sharper visual focus, it

perceived ever more clearly that corporeal things were perishable.

DOGE’S PALACE, VENICEOne of the wealthiest cities of

late medieval Italy—and of Europe—was Venice, renowned for its

streets of water. Situated on a lagoon on the northeastern coast of

Italy, Venice was secure from land attack and could rely on a power-

ful navy for protection against invasion from the sea. Internally,

Venice was a tight corporation of ruling families who, for centuries,

provided stable rule and fostered economic growth. The Venetian

republic’s seat of government was the Doge’s (Duke’s) Palace (FIG.

19-21). Begun around 1340–1345 and significantly remodeled

The 14th Century 515

19-20Francesco Trainior Buonamico Buffalmacco,two details ofTriumph of Death,1330s. Full fresco, 18 6  49  2 . Camposanto, Pisa.

Befitting its location on a wall in Pisa’s Camposanto, the enclosed burial ground adjacent to the city’s cathedral, this fresco captures the horrors of

death and forces viewers to confront their mortality.

19-21Doge’s Palace, Venice, Italy, begun ca. 1340–1345; expanded and remodeled, 1424–1438.

The delicate patterning in cream- and rose-colored marbles, the pointed and ogee arches, and the quatrefoil medallions

of the Doge’s Palace constitute a distinctive Venetian variation of northern Gothic architecture.

1 ft.

1 ft.